Leonard's Critical thinking with a cynical edge

65th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe

2010-05-09T10:18:00.000-05:00

Felix A. Cizewski's copy of the 45th Division News Extra edition, May 13, 1945, announcing the end of the war in Europe.

The full edition and larger images are on my family history web site: 45th Division News

(The original has been donated to the

Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
which hold the copyright on reproductions of this copy.)

65 years ago, my father, Felix A. Cizewski, got the news that Germany surrendered. The Germans had been defeated in the 45th Infantry Division's area of operations and the 45th had halted in and around Munich and Dachau a few days earlier.

As positive as this was, Felix did not yet know his fate. At this point, nothing indicated that he was going home. Was he to remain in Germany on occupation duty or be transferred to the Pacific for the war with Japan.

For the first time, foreign troops were in the annual Moscow victory parade The U.S. unit was C Company, 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. This unit's history includes landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Allied Troops to Join 10,500 Russian Soldiers in Victory Parade by Alexander Bratersky,The Moscow Times, May 7, 2010.

Best history of the 45th Infantry Division.	Best history of the end of the war in Europe.

Why Cinco de Mayo is also a U.S. holiday

2010-05-05T19:21:00.003-05:00

General Sheridan
(Image from the Library of Congress/No known restrictions on publication.)

Cinco de Mayo is more than Mexican cultural and historical event. It celebrates the post Mexican War friendship between our countries and American support for the Mexican struggle to regain independence from France.

In 1861, during the U.S. Civil War, France sent troops to Mexico and made Mexico into a French colony.

The U.S. was still committed to its foreign policy of opposing by force attempts to recolonize any American nation that had won their independence (the Monroe Doctrine). The Civil War prevented the U.S. from enforcing that policy. As Lincoln said regarding another dispute, only one war at a time.

However, Mexico resisted.

On May 5, 1862, at Pueblo outside of Mexico City, Mexican irregulars, guerrillas, and militia defeated the invading French forces.

While the French lost that battle, they still were able to capture Mexico City and impose colonial rule.

Despite losing their capitol and government, Mexico continued to resist.

Abraham Lincoln and the Union supported the Mexicans while the Confederacy hoped to trade support for the French colonization of Mexico for recognition of Confederate independence.

At Lincoln's order in late 1863 Union forces landed from the Gulf of Mexico and seized Brownsville, Texas as a show of force and a warning to France.

After the surrender of the Confederacy, 50,000 Federal troops under General Philip Sheridan were deployed to the Mexican border with Texas.

France withdrew and the Mexicans overthrew the colonial government, completing their struggle which began with their victory on the first Cinco de Mayo.

The success of the Mexican resistance restored Mexican independence and saved the U.S. from engaging in another war immediately after the Civil War.

That's something both nations can celebrate together.

I wrote this in reaction to white supremacists advocating making Cinco de Mayo "Turn in an Illegal Day".

65th anniversary of the liberation of Dachau

2010-04-29T10:09:00.000-05:00

Entrance to the SS training camp and garrison
west of the Dachau prison compound.

Felix A. Cizewski penciled on the back : "Dachau Germany Prison Camp."

The original has been donated to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
(Copyright: Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center)

65 years ago today, "Task Force Sparks" of the 45th Infantry Division was fighting its way into Dachau. My father, PFC Felix A. Cizewski, was in the 45th Signal Company which was moving from Schrobenhausen, Germany, about 39 miles (63 kilometers) by road north of Dachau to Haimhausen, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) by road northeast of Dachau.

The Signal Company provided support for other units of the 45th such as "Task Force Sparks".

Felix and the Signal Company arrived at Dachau a few days later. Details of his experience and a copy of the 45th Division News with the story of the liberation of Dachau are at my family history web site:

Dachau 1945

The liberation of Dachau may have been one of the most powerful and traumatic experiences of my father's life.

A Disabled Veteran?

The Rock of Anzio includes a well researched and detailed account of the 45th's liberation of Dachau.

Chicago's Polish-American community in mourning

2010-04-24T11:07:00.000-05:00

Polish flag with mourning ribbon on the front of Polish-American grocery store Shop & Save at 5829 South Archer Avenue, Chicago.(Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski.)

Garfield Ridge, a southwest Chicago neighborhood just west of Midway Airport, is home to recent immigrants from Poland and descendants of previous ones. I lived there in the 1960s and 70s and relatives still do.

I visited this week and saw homes, businesses, and cars displayed the flag of Poland with mourning ribbons for the deaths in the tragic plane crash near Smolensk, Belarus. Poles, including one from Chicago, were traveling to a 70th anniversary memorial service at Katyn where Soviets massacred captured Poles in the early days of World War II.

Confederate History Month: Celebrate This, Virginia

2010-04-09T20:15:00.008-05:00

145 years ago today, my great-great-grandfather-in-law, Anson Croman, was serving under General Grant when Grant dealt the final death blow to the Confederacy by accepting Lee's surrender,

Southeast of Appomattox Anson's unit, the 20th Michigan Infantry Regiment, was protecting Grant's flank and rebuilding the railroad to keep Grant supplied

Not only did today's events permanently answer the questions of secession and slavery, they were the beginning of the the civil rights movement that culminated in the election of President Obama.

To find Anson's approximate location, click on the at the image and link below to the West Point Atlas map of today's events. In the lower right corner find "IX Parke" That's Anson's and the 20th's corps and commander. A note on the map states they were stretched along the railroad from Petersburg to Farmville.

The Defeat of Lee, 3-9 April 1865
(Public Domain Image/U.S. Military Academy)

West Point Atlas of the
American Civil War.

Best one volume history
of the American Civil War.

Costs of space tourism

2010-02-24T12:41:00.003-06:00

On the forum of the BBC monthly science magazine Focus I posted a comment on their December, 2009 cover story Destination Space.

In the February, 2010 issue an edited version of my post was published:

Wiesel: If Ahmadinejad were assassinated, I wouldn't shed a tear

2010-02-09T12:16:00.004-06:00

While I understand the fear, anger, and rage that would move someone like Eli Wiesel to say this, I wish he hadn't.

Elie Wiesel (orange box) in the Buchenwald, Germany concentration camp, April, 1945, after liberation by the U.S. Army. (Public Domain photo by U.S. Army Signal Corps photographer.)

Not only would assassinating Ahmadinejad not solve the Iranian problem, it risks unleashing a wave of retaliatory assassinations of other heads of state.

The world informally agrees that states do not target other heads of state for assassination.

After WWII, states reexamined that position, wondering if they had assassinated Hitler the horrors of the Holocaust could have been prevented.

During the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s, heads of states were targeted for assassination. One of the unintended tragic consequences may have been the assassination of President Kennedy.

Some scholars speculate that among Lee Harvey Oswald's motivation was retaliation for the attempts the CIA was making against Fidel Castro and other Cuban leaders. Oswald was an unaffiliated communist who strongly supported and sympathized with the Cuban revolution.

Many options such as more sanctions especially cutting off refined oil products, a blockade, or a declaration of war, are available to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and supporting the Iranians' demands for freedom.

Assassinating their leaders is not one of them.

Related note:

Assassinating Hitler would not have ended the war. That would have not changed the demand by the Allies and the Soviets that Germany unconditionally surrender, be occupied and disarmed.

The Allies and the Soviets would have preferred to capture Hitler alive then try him war crimes.

The German anti-Nazi resistance was divided on assassinating Hitler. Some felt that assassination was necessary for a successful coup and to end the war. Others, perhaps Rommel, preferred arresting Hitler then holding a public trial to break the Nazi hold on the German psyche and to began to restore Germany's standing in the world by taking responsibility for their crimes.

For more information:

Wiesel: If Ahmadinejad were assassinated, I wouldn't shed a tear from Haaretz Feb. 9, 2010.

Eli Wiesel's account of his Holocaust experiences and his post war recovery.

Sarah Palin's Israeli flag pin

2010-02-08T11:51:00.016-06:00

Did wearing an Israeli flag pin at the tea bag convention expose Sarah Palin's affiliation with or belief in religious extremism?

She wore an Israeli flag alongside an American one.

Some Christians on the fringes of mainstream Christian theology see Israel and the Jews as part of their end times apocalyptic prophecies.

Israeli and American flags fly as Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates arrives in Tel Aviv, April 18, 2007. (Credit: Department of Defense/Public Domain.)

They believe these prophecies require Israel to retain sovereignty over all the land from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.

Therefore they have aligned themselves with the Israeli extremists opposed to the two state solution.

The majority of Israelis and their supporters around the world see permanent peace as in Israel's short and long term interests. A two state solution is recognized as essential part of any final agreement.

Another part of their "prophecy" requires the Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

After doing their part to create the conditions so Jesus can return, Jews will be offered one last chance to convert to Christianity or suffer the wrath of god.

So much for these Christians' "special love" of Israel and Jews.

The end of times conversion offer can be seen as a denial of the validity of Judaism as a religion.

For more information:

Sarah Palin watch: She looks trim, fit -- and brimming with energy and plans

by Ann Gerhart, 44 The Obama Presidency, The Washington Post, Feb. 7, 2009

President Obama needs more like General Buford

2010-01-06T12:07:00.104-06:00

President Obama is angry that our intelligence agencies instead of sharing and analyzing the intelligence about Christmas underwear bomber Umar Faruk Abdulmutallab seemed to have barely done the minimum required.

General Buford
(Matthew Brady/Library of Congress/Public Domain)

In 1863 Union cavalry General Buford had intelligence gathering responsibilities to find the Confederate army that had invaded the North. He found them outside of Gettysburg.

At that point, General Buford could have done the minimum required by simply reporting to his superior the Confederate's location then withdrawing.

As a professional who took his responsibilities seriously, he quickly analyzed what he just learned. He recognized that the terrain around Gettysburg may be the best place to repel the invasion. He included that in his report and added that he was digging in to hold that ground.

For several hours on the first day of the battle, General Buford and his cavalry delayed the advance of the Confederates until enough of the Union army arrived to secure most of the positions he identified.

President Obama is asking the intelligence community to drop their "what is the least I can do and still keep my job" attitude and start acting more like professionals in the tradition of General Buford.

General Buford died five months after the Battle of Gettysburg from an illness probably caused by contaminated water, a common cause of sickness and death among Civil War soldiers.

General Buford's Gettysburg story is dramatized in Michael Shaara's novel, The Killer Angels and General Buford is portrayed by Sam Elliott in Gettysburg, the movie based on the novel.

It's not the Nobel "Pacifism" Prize

2009-12-12T11:17:00.001-06:00

Some have criticized the awarding of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to a commander in chief of a nation that has just announced an escalation of one of the two wars in which his nation is involved.

President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for renewing America's commitment to diplomacy, the rule of law, and a decreased emphasis on the use of military force, not for pacifism

Few Nobel Peace Prize winners have been pacifists. Many were military commanders or political leaders of nations at war.

President Theodore Roosevelt's 1906 prize was for his diplomatic work in ending the Russian-Japanese War. President Roosevelt had built his career on his record as a war hero in what was an unjust war of aggression and conquest, the Spanish-American War, and believed in the aggressive use of military force.

President Wilson's 1919 prize was for his diplomatic efforts after World War I to prevent future wars. As commander in chief he just presided over the American military's decisive contribution to the defeat of Germany and its allies.

General George C. Marshall's, the American Army's chief of staff in World War II and a major architect of the Allied victory, won the Peace Prize in 1953 for his post war reconstruction work in Europe.

The 1973 prize Henry Kissinger shared with his then North Vietnamese counterpart for negotiating the end to the war in Vietnam may have been to most disturbing and least deserving of any. Along with what has generally been judged to be the unjust use of excessive force in Vietnam, Henry Kissinger's policies set off the chain of events that directly contributed to the Khmer Rouge's massacre of millions of their fellow Cambodians.

Rather than an acknowledgment of anyone's accomplishments, the 1973 prize was perhaps more a collective sigh of relief that the Vietnam War appeared to be reaching a conclusion.

Both of the 1978 winners for their diplomatic work, Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime minister Menachem Begin had dubious histories of terrorism. During World War II, Anwar Sadat was imprisoned by the British for his efforts to work with Nazis against the British in Egypt. Menachem Begin was part of an organization that committed terrorist attacks against both the British and Arabs in Palestine before Israeli independence.

The 1989 winner, the Dalai Lama, does not claim to be a pacifist and supports the just use of force, perhaps because he sees that as among the options to achieve his goals for Tibet. From the late 1950s until the mid 1970s, the Dalai Lama was publicly silent about the CIA supported guerilla war the Tibetans waged against the Chinese. When as part of the process of normalizing relations with China, the CIA withdrew support for the Tibetan guerrillas, the Dalai Lama called on the Tibetans to cease the war, implying that he long had some authority over the fighters.

The 1993 Prize was shared by leaders who after a prolonged period of waging war against each other, agreed to peace, South African President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela.

Ironically in some ways the accomplishments of these South African practitioners of armed force may have been greater that those of the iconic pacifist of the 20th century, Mohandas Gandhi. After independence, India descended into a maelstrom of Hindu versus Muslim violence with up to one millions deaths. British Indian broke into two then three nations that have repeatedly warred with each, two of which have armed themselves with nuclear weapons.

In contrast, South Africa achieved a much less violent end to Apartheid without civil or racial war or a break up of the nation. South Africa also dismantled its incipient nuclear weapons program.

The 1994 prize was awarded to three leaders who had long waged both conventional and terrorist wars with each other, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli leaders Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin

The 2002 prize was awarded to Navy veteran and former President Jimmy Carter for his post presidency diplomatic and humanitarian work

Vietnam War Army veteran and former Vice President Al Gore shared the 2007 for his environmental work.

For more information:

Diplomacy That Will Live in Infamy by James Bradley, New York Times, December 6, 2009. The author writes that rather than acting as a neutral mediator of the Russian-Japanese War, President Roosevelt was a supporter of Japan and sought an end to the war on terms favorable to Japanese dominance in Asia.

All Nobel Laureates

Afghanistan and the lessons of history

2009-12-02T09:40:00.003-06:00

The history of Vietnam is not the only source of historical insight into Afghanistan.

Because of the threats from violent racist ideologues , Republican President Eisenhower used Federal troops and U.S. Marshalls to protect African-American children as they attended integrated schools to obtain a quality education.

In Afghanistan, violent religious extremists who oppose the education of women have thrown acid into the faces of little girls attending school.

One of President Obama's goals is provide support and training for Afghan police and soldiers so they will protect Afghan girls attending schools.

The violent racist ideology that threatened American children is still active but is marginalized, isolated, and mostly ineffective. In a similar way, another goal is to help create conditions in which Afghan society can isolate and marginalize those who opposed the education of women.

Why Tiger Woods is a public issue

2009-12-01T09:13:00.001-06:00

What is publicly known continues to suggest that domestic violence may be involved. Years of consciousness raising has made domestic abuse a community issue. That doesn't change because celebrities are involved or a male may have been the victim.

Endorsements are a major source of Tiger's fortune. Where does that money come from? Do products such as Gillette razors include a Tiger "endorsement surcharge"? Many buy such products because of long years of use and not because of Tiger's relatively recent endorsement.

Is another source the continued underpayment of the workers who manufacture the products Tiger endorses, such as Nike? Instead of paying workers fairly, is Nike paying a fortune to Tiger?

When Tiger sold an entire image package of not only the greatest golfer but nice guy and family man, Tiger sold his privacy.

For more information

Danish Comsumer Council's report on working conditions at a Nike factory in Vietnam

Disturbing White House security breach

2009-11-25T21:55:00.000-06:00

The New York Times reported uninvited guests got past security into the state dinner with the Prime Minister of India..

Coming two days after the 46th anniversary of the Secret Service's failures which contributed to the death of President Kennedy, this is seriously disturbing.

No matter what the cause, security breaches like this cannot be allowed with the threat level against President Obama.

46th anniversary of the assasination of President Kennedy

2009-11-22T08:42:00.001-06:00

Today on the 46th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, I'm reading Brothers in arms:The Kennedys, the Castros, and the Politics of Murder, by Gus Russo and Stephen Molton.

The authors researched recently released archival material. The cover up which has fueled conspiracy theories was not of who killed President Kennedy but the extensive U.S. war against Cuba. Oswald acted alone but was motivated by a desire to retaliate for the attempts to assassinate Fidel. The authors found evidence that Cuban intelligence had been in contact with Oswald and may have known of his plan.

Are among the reasons that relations with Cuba are not normalized the lingering bitterness towards the Castro because of the Cuban intelligence service's relationship with Oswald?

On a related note, I hope the Secret Service learned from their incredible failures on that day to improve security for our president today.

What lesson can conservatives learn from the resignation of Van Jones?

2009-09-08T09:59:00.001-05:00

Some Republicans and conservatives are celebrating the resignation of Van Jones. They misunderstand the significance of what just happened.

By marginalizing a 9/11 truther, mainstream Democrats took a step towards restoring civility and rationality to our national discourse. In her column today, progressive African-American Atlanta Journal Constitution writer Cynthia Tucker agrees.

Responsible conservatives and Republicans now need to do the same to the conspiracy theorists and other extremists in their own camp: the birthers, deathers, tenthers, and those who openly carry firearms at political rallies or make other suggestions of violence.

Two recent actions provide tiny rays of hope.

Mainstream Idaho Republicans quickly condemned fringe Republican gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell for joking about buying a license to hunt President Obama.

In an act of courage and integrity, former educator and former First Lady Laura Bush condemned the attacks on President Obama’s back to school pep talk and decried the increasing polarization of the nation.

What is unfortunate is that neither her husband or father-in-law, the two living former Republican presidents, joined her.

What are Birthers, Deathers, and Tenthers?

2009-09-07T20:51:00.000-05:00

In my previous post, I referred to birthers, deathers, and tenthers. Someone asked for definitions.

Birther: Someone who despite all the overwhelming evidence, questions if President Obama was born in U.S. and therefore questions if he meets the Constitutional requirements to be president. The anger and persistence of some implies a racist agenda, questioning how an African-American could have been elected.

Deather: Someone who claims that President Obama's health care reforms include hastening the death of the elderly and people with disabilities through rationing or denial of health care or euthanasia. This is conscious misinformation by opponents of not only reform but of almost everything President Obama does, which again suggests some racist motivations.

Among the proposed reforms is a guarantee of Medicare reimbursement to a physician for regular end of life discussions with their patients. The discussions would be voluntary and would include options such as hospice and palliative care, and the preparation of advanced directives.

President Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel’s brother, Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, has written articles discussing questions such as the appropriateness of aggressive chemotherapy for a very elderly person with terminal cancer. This has been distorted to imply he is advocating withholding care or euthanizing the elderly.

Among the “Deathers” is former Alaska governor Sarah Palin who while governor actively encouraged Alaskans to prepare advance directives.

Tenthers: Someone who claims the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the Federal government from doing anything regarding health care.

The Tenth Amendment states:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The tenthers ignore that a significant portion of health care is already provided by the Federal government through Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans Administration, care for active duty military personnel and their dependents, and the provision of private insurance for Federal employees.

The Tenth Amendment has been inappropriately cited over the year to oppose such Federal actions as enforcement of civil rights which adds to the suspicion of racist motivations.

The tenthers ignore years of Supreme Court decisions that have settled this issue.

Should the Green Jobs Czar have resigned?

2009-09-07T12:20:00.003-05:00

Former Obama administration green jobs czar Van Jones showed incredibly poor judgement by becoming a “celebrity” signer of a 9/11 Truth petition. Either he sympathized with it, which suggests a disqualifying lack of discernment, or he didn’t read it, which displayed a disqualifying lack of attention to detail.

There are many legitimate critiques of 9/11 that someone can express without disqualifying themselves from positions of public responsibility. 9/11 conspiracy theories are not among them. They are best viewed in the same way as are Holocaust denial, intelligent design, alien abductions, birthers, deathers, and tenthers.

Seemingly legitimate petitions may not be worthy of our signatures. Some petitions are authored by ideologues and extremists whose agendas are not immediately obvious such as petitions that appear to be calling for peace in the Middle East at the same time as they call Israelis Nazis.

I declined to sign a petition to impeach George Bush. I had grown weary of my progressive colleagues viciously criticizing Democratic members of Congress for failing to do something that was utterly impossible.

I treasure our Constitutional right to petition government. However, signing every petition that is put before us devalues one’s signature and as Van Jones discovered risks serious consequences.

Why didn't McNamara speak out when he could have made a difference?

2009-07-06T12:35:00.010-05:00

As an anti-Communist, McNamara may have thought the Vietnam War just. One of the tragedies of McNamara is that he knew at least the means being used during the Vietnam War were wrong and ultimately ineffective.

There was too much corruption among the anti-Communist Vietnamese and they were out of touch with the majority of Vietnamese to effectively oppose the Communist led coalition. The anti-Communist elites were Roman Catholics (descendants of the converts from the missionaries that as always accompanied the French colonials) while the majority of Vietnamese were Buddhist.

Information such as this was readily available to McNarmara in the Rand Corp.'s analysis, later known as The Pentagon Papers when they were released by Daniel Ellsberg. They were written during McNamara's tenure, classified but circulated within the Pentagon. McNamara was enough of an intellectual to understand their significance.

Had he spoken out publicly while Sec'y of Defense or immediately after he left office, he might have saved thousands of American and Vietnamese lives.

Had the war in neighboring Vietnam ended in the 60s before Nixon overthrew the Cambodian monarchy and invaded Cambodia, the Cambodian king might have been able to maintain his relative neutrality, continue to marginalize and isolate the Khmer Rouge. and save Cambodia from the horror of Khmer Rouge rule.

The only way the Vietnam War could have been "won" would have been to attempt to occupy the whole country. The Soviet Union and China were committed to a Communist nation in at least the northern half of Vietnam. Attempting to occupy all of Vietnam would have risked a land war with China which easily could have escalated into a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Even if we had figured out how to occupy Vietnam without provoking an end of the world nuclear war, we would have found ourselves fighting an insurgency far worse than anything we face in Iraq today.

I'm treading on shaky grounds as the intellectual giants of history urge extreme caution when in speculating on historical "what ifs"!

Had McNamara spoken up when that could have made a real difference, he would have risked losing appointments to various private sector positions and earning obscene amounts of money. Instead he would have had to settle for something as the more modest pay of a job in academia. Was that too much risk and cost to him to do the right thing?

McNamara exhibitted moral cowardice as did Colin Powell. Powell knew the Iraq War was wrong. Prior to the Iraq War, Colin Powell spoke of what he learned from his service in Vietnam about when and how American troops should be sent into combat. He knew that the Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld were ignoring those lessons.

Yet while Powell was in a position in power when saying something might of prevented the Iraq War, he told lies to the American people and the U.N. to promote the war. By failing to speak the truth, Powell betrayed not only his own intellectual and moral integrity but also all of his comrades who served in Vietnam. That makes his silence more tragic.

Powell is no longer being seriously considered for the Republican presidential nomination. His pensions are secure, he is retired and therefore has nothing to risk, Now Powell suddenly discovered his ethical and moral voice. He endorsed Obama and just made a statement of support for Judge Sotomayor.

Do the comparatively minor risks of some social ostracism. decreased job options, and lower pay cause people such as McNamara and Powell to ignore their moral compasses when their words could make significant difference?

Does the NFL have higher ethical standards than the U.S. Senate?

2009-06-20T09:27:00.003-05:00

The State's Attorney for Sagamon County, Illinois which includes Springfield has decided that he lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute Roland Burris for perjury for the lies of omission Burris used to obtain his Senate seat. The level of evidence needed for a jury to convict Burris is very high.

About the same time as the state's attorney was declining to prosecute Burris, NFL Commissioner Goodell issued his decision regarding Cleveland Browns' player Donte Stallworth. Stallworth had successfully minimized the criminal consequences for having killed someone while driving drunk. Goodell judged that the resolution of the criminal charges did not shield Stallworth from further civil consequences. Goodell indefinitely suspended Stallworth.

The Senate Ethics Committee continues to review what Burris said and withheld. They would do well to follow Goodell's example.

Could Jeremiah Wright have picked a worse time?

2009-06-11T15:18:00.010-05:00

In the recent interview in which President Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright complained that "them Jews" are keeping him from seeing President Obama, he added that:

Ethnic cleansing is going on in Gaza. Ethnic cleansing [by] the Zionist is a sin and a crime against humanity, and they don't want Barack talking like that because that's anti-Israel...

Israel waged an unjust war and used force that exceeded legitimate self-defense needs. Israel's continued refusal to negotiate seriously on outstanding issues was another reason that the situation with Gaza deteriorated into another war.

However, calling what Israel did in Gaza "ethnic cleansing" is hateful, evil, vile, and demeans the real ethnic cleansing that has occurred in the past and continues to this day as in Darfur.

If Israel was engaged in ethnic cleansing, the populations of Gaza and the West Bank would not continue to grow under occupation, blockade, and continuing violence. That the Palestinian population is able to grow under Israeli rule is a rebuttal to charges of ethnic cleansing but in no way a justification for Israeli policies.

When ethnic cleansing occurs, vast areas are without their former populations, for example the areas of Europe without any significant Jewish population after the Nazi Holocaust or the areas of Turkey without any significant Armenian population after the Armenian genocide.

Israel can justifiably be accused of many things. "Ethnic cleansing" is not one of them.

Wright's statements become even more shameful as they were made almost at the same time as an African-American security guard died defending the U.S. Holocaust Memorial and Museum against an attack by a anti-Semitic white supremacist.

Is Pete Seeger an American Hero?

2009-06-01T14:08:00.008-05:00

In the New York Times. Sunday, May 31, Alan Light reviewed The Protest Singer: An Intimate Portrait of Pete Seeger by Alec Wilkinson:

The defining moment for Seeger was his 1955 testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (reprinted here as an appendix), in which he yielded no ground regarding his beliefs. He was sentenced to jail for contempt of Congress, but the conviction was overturned. With this event, Wilkinson writes, Seeger staked his claim as an American hero; forever after, he “typified the principles of all the brave people he sang about.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/books/review/Light-t.html

Among his supporters and admirers, especially on the American left , Seeger is a much beloved saintly icon as Mother Theresa is to many Catholics. My comments are from my perspective as a non-ideological progressive critical thinker who tries to be tolerant of a wide range of political views.

Biographies of Seeger that do not discuss his full story do a disservice to history.

Nothing the House Un-American Activities Committee did was appropriate or worthy of support. Seeger and others should never have been called to testify. The communist organizations that the committee was investigating were marginal, ineffective, irrelevant or defunct. They were best ignored and allowed to wither as Communism continued to discredit itself by committing atrocities against its own and other people.

However, the more I learn about people like Seeger, the less of a heroic person of principle he seems.

Was Seeger refusing to testify not only because of some lofty First Amendment principles about freedom of association and belief but also because of his embarrassing association with American Communists? In 1940, following the line ordered by the Moscow based Communist International (Comintern), Seeger and other American Communists opposed Britain's and France's resistance to Nazi attacks because at that time the Soviets had an alliance with the Nazis. Of course, when the Nazis attacked the Soviets, Seeger and other American Communist enthusiastically supported the war.

To this day, Seeger is reported to barely be able to choke out a condemnation of Stalin who was responsible for more deaths than the Nazis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Seeger

Exactly what is so brave, heroic, and principled about refusing to discuss how one was a thoughtless ideologue who opposed a war against the Nazis because Stalin and the Soviet Communists told you not to? Exactly what was principle that Seeger was defending?

Communists preyed on idealists. They recruited Americans who supported civil and labor rights, the United Nations, diplomacy over war, and similar issues. They misrepresented the Communist Party as just another legitimate political organization or a third party alternative to the two mainstream parties.

I have given this much thought when I learned that one of my son's classmates was the grandchild of filmmaker Elia Kazan. Kazan may have been one of the idealists preyed upon and recruited by the Communist Party. He felt no obligation to sacrifice his career to shield those who preyed upon him so he testified. Kazan was condemned by his colleagues such as Arthur Miler and was estranged from them for the rest of their lives. I don't know if Kazan did the right thing either. I do think the issues are more complicated than viewing Kazan as a villain and Seeger as a hero.Seeger eventually drifted away from formal Communist organizations and has done great musical and political things since. To my assessment his greatness is diminished by his lack of full, honest disclosure about his past. As this review suggests, he actively deflects attention from some parts of his past and cultivates a saintly, heroic, principled image.

Some views fall out of the range of legitimacy and tolerance. On the right, they include white supremacy, secession or militia movements. On the left, they are the forms of communism that reject peaceful constitutional processes for the transfer of power or that are more loyal to a foreign or international communist movements than they are to our own people and nation.

How is Marshall Mather/Eminen/Slim Shady dealing with the 12-Steps?

2009-05-24T11:27:00.005-05:00

The New York Times reports on Marshall Mathers's (Eminem, Slim Shady) drug abuse problem, overdose, relapse, and recovery. Mather overdosed on methodone, one of the drugs that was found in the toxicology during the autopsy of my oldest son. Methadone was possibly the drug that made lethal the mix of substances he had taken. Were it not for this connection, I probably would not be commenting on this story.

Mather has:

started the full 12-step program of a recovering addict, complete with meetings, a sponsor and a therapist.

Mather is continuing his career:

Eminem resumes — or relapses into — his main alter ego, Slim Shady: the sneering, clownish, paranoid, homophobic, celebrity-stalking compulsive rapist and serial killer who plays his exploits for queasy laughs and mass popularity.

During the early part of his career:the article states:

Eminem quickly became an offensive scourge to those who took Shady’s fantasies literally, or worried that others might.

Both in my training as a registered nurse and my support of my son’s efforts at recovery, I learned much about the 12-step program. I have often wondered how people like Mather reconcile how they earn their living with their 12-Step program, especially these:

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/steps.html

This may be how Mather does it:

Now, a decade into his major-label career, “I’m done explaining it,” he said. “Here’s my music. Here’s what it is. Get what you get from it. I didn’t get in this game to be a role model.”

“At the end of the day, it’s just words,” he added. “That’s all it is to me.”

That is literally true but very disturbing to those like me who have personally and professionally experienced the devastation of substance abuse.

Mather is not alone in this behavior. Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck both acknowledge that they are in recovery from substance abuse while they both continue to earn their living with mean-spirited, hateful lies that, like Mather’s lyrics, raise fear that people with disordered minds will take literally enough to act out violently.

Ceasing substance abuse is the first half of recovery. Ceasing abusive behaviors learned while abusing substances is the second half.

I raise these questions reluctantly as recovery is a very personal matter. However, Mather and others have made their recovery very public, even using it to promote their careers. That opens them to questions like mine.

I hope they are addressing these questions in their 12-Step program, with their sponsor and therapist.

Are people with mentally ill being preyed upon by extremists?

2009-05-22T11:55:00.006-05:00

The New York Times reports that at least one of the four men recently arrested for the plot to bomb a New York synagogue suffers from mental illness.

(Laguerre) Payen, described as a nervous, quiet sort who took medication for schizophrenia or a bi-polar disorder,

A friend who visited Mr. Payen’s apartment on Thursday said it contained bottles of urine, and raw chicken on the stovetop.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/nyregion/22plot.html

Hamin Rashada, an assistant imam from the Islamic Learning Center of Orange County... said. “(Payen) has some very serious psychological problems,”...adding that Mr. Payen was on medications and talked in circles.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/nyregion/22suspects.html

People with mental illness are very vulnerable. Family members, friends, co-workers, advocates, and caregivers already are helping them to protect themselves from financial scammers, sexual abusers, drug dealers, and other predators. Add to that the heightened vulnerability to being preyed upon by recruiters for violent religious or political extremism that those with schizophrenia seem to have.

Besides conservative Republicans, who else hates Sen. Specter?

2009-04-28T13:06:00.002-05:00

In the 60s Arlen Specter was on Congressman Gerald Ford's staff and served on the Warren Commission that investigated JFK's assassination. Specter was part of the team that determined that one bullet, the second shot, hit both JFK and Texas Gov. John Connally. All subsequent studies including the most recent ones using modern forensics techniques, confirm the accuracy of Specter's initial conclusions. Specter is therefore not only hated by conservative Republicans but by JFK conspiracy theorists.

Arlen Specter joins the long history of politicians switching parties including Gov. Connally who in 1973 switched from Democratic to Republican.

What happens when Texans forget history?

2009-04-16T12:04:00.005-05:00

Speaking to anti-tax tea bag protesters, Republican Governor Rick Perry quoted Texas founder and hero Sam Houston.

"In the words of Sam Houston, Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression," Perry said. "We will not stand for our pockets to be picked."

Thousands rally against overtaxation in local tea party The Daily Skiff, Texas Christian University

Perry also alluded to secession perhaps in the belief that somehow Texas reserved the right to secede.

Perry's quoting Houston is especially ironic. After winning independence from Mexico, Sam Houston accomplished his next goal, admission to the union in 1845. After winning election to governor in 1859, he was removed in 1861 because he opposed secession and Texas joining the Confederacy.

Texas does not have any additional right to secede than any other state. Snopes reviewed the historical literature and found absolutely no basis for this along with the other myth that Texas can split into five states. The American Civil War decisively settled the question that once a state joins the union, they are in forever.

Did the Europeans use smallpox against the Indians?

2009-03-23T22:14:00.004-05:00

On March 21, 2009, The New York Times reported on Ward Churchill's lawsuit against the University of Colorado. A U of C committee dismissed him from his tenured position for what they found to be very serious acts of academic misconduct such as:

"he had no factual basis for...his theory....that Capt. John Smith purposefully introduced smallpox among the Wampanoag Indians in the 17th century."

Ward Churchill apparently:

"...cited writings of other scholars that he had actually ghostwritten, creating the illusion that there was a body of work supporting his theories."

In Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, author Jared Diamond doubts the Europeans had that sophisticated an understanding of disease transmission. Smallpox, measles, and influenza were introduced during the one hundred years of European contact prior to the time Ward Churchill alleges the Europeans tried to spread disease. Within a few years of these earlier contacts, these disease became a devastating pandemic among the native people who lacked immunity. Almost 90% of them died. Probably nothing the Europeans could have done would made things worse.

How might Madoff behaved had he met Wiesel in the camps?

2009-03-06T15:12:00.004-06:00

I read Elie Wiesel's Night in my late adolescence. In it Wiesel describes how he was repeatedly and brutally robbed by fellow inmates, including having his gold fillings ripped out of his mouth.

How must Madoff's relatives and "friends" feel knowing that what Madoff did was to make Wiesel a victim again of the same type of predatory criminality that Wiesel suffered 65 years ago in the camps?

I find it easy to imagine Madoff behaving like the camp inmates who in return for the chance at a few more moments of life or a temporary privilege, betrayed other inmates to the Nazis, groveled to the guards, shoved their fellow inmates into the gas chambers then afterwards removed their bodies, and preyed on their fellow inmates, including the children like Wiesel, who were weaker, more vulnerable, and less able to defend themselves.

Is a political cartoon effective if you have to think this much?

2009-02-23T11:14:00.008-06:00

I've long loved political cartoons. I was lucky to grow up in Chicago where the work of one of the greatest cartoonist, Bill Mauldin, was regularly published in the Chicago Sun-Times. I even dreamed of being a political cartoonist.

Cartoons are meant to be simple, superficial, and taken in at a glance. The superficial, simple, at a glance reading of the New York Post cartoon would be to recognize the classic racial stereotype of a black man who was behind the stimulus bill, Obama, as the chimp.

(The New York Post does not seem to have permalinks to its content. To view the original cartoon, go to http://www.nypost.com/delonas/delonas.htm then enter February 18, 2009 to retrieve the original from their archives.)

Not only did the cartoon touch on racial stereotypes, it touched on assassination of Obama.

The New York Post and right wing media commentators are claiming that we are misinterpreting this. They claim the chimp represents House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or Senate head Harry Reid or the Democratic party which has devolved to the level of chimps. That's way too complicated and obviously a cover for their racial insensitivity and their insensitivity to the higher assassination risk Obama is under.

One has the First Amendment right to say or publish most anything, unfortunately including hateful things. The First Amendment prohibits the government from censoring such speech before publications or prosecuting it afterwards.

However, the First Amendment does not shield one from others' reactions. The First Amendment also protects reactions such as public condemnations and calls for a boycott of the New York Post.

What will make Burris resign?

2009-02-21T13:11:00.005-06:00

The same lack of integrity that Burris exhibited by accepting the Senate appointment from Blagojevich now prevents him from doing the honorable thing by resigning.

What would move such a personality to resign? I think Burris has enough megalomania that he would rather resign than need to chisel into his burial monument:

1. First African-American senator censured by the Senate.

2. First African-American Senator expelled by the Senate. That would be particularly humiliating as all but one of the previous 15 expulsions were for supporting the Confederacy.

3. First African-American Senator asked to resign by the first African-American President.

4. First African-American Senator indicted for perjury or any one of a number of crimes to be revealed by ongoing investigations. While criminal prosecution does not necessarily result in loss of his seat, he may wish to avoid adding an indictment to his legacy by making some type of plea bargain, resigning in exchange for a promise of no prosecution.

In his resignation statement, Burris could use the standard fall back of needing more time with his family. That probably would not soothe his pompous ego. More likely, he will blame everyone else. He may charge that he is the victim of a vast media conspiracy which has made it impossible for him and President Obama to do their jobs.

How will Burris deal with this on his monument?

2009-02-17T07:12:00.006-06:00

How and when will Burris leave office?

1. Resignation? Probably the least likely as his ego won't allow it.

2. Expulsion by the Senate through one of its procedures other than than impeachment? Reasonable and possible.

3. Impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate? A long, cumbersome, and politically costly process which makes it less likely.

4. Loss in the 2010 Senatorial primary? A very likely possibility especially since the revelations of the past few days cost him most meaningful support from Illinois Democrats.

5. If he survives the primary, loss in the general election? That might be the worst outcome as it will give the Republicans another Senate seat, the last thing President Obama needs.

Unfortunately, Burris is so self centered that he is incapable of seeing how harmful he has become to President Obama. Just as the Republicans are putting ideology before the good of the nation, Burris will probably do the same with his ego. That will look great on his grave marker.

Where were they for the last eight years?

2009-01-16T13:18:00.005-06:00

During the confirmation hearings for Obama's nominees, Republican Senators are raising issues of ethics and conflicts of interest. On the measures to deal with the economic crisis they are raising concerns about fiscal responsibility, deficits, and balanced budgets.

Where were they the past eight years while the Bush administration engaged in some of the most illegal, unethical, and immoral conduct in our history? Where were their financial concerns when for the first time in U.S. history they cut taxes during war and ran up record spending and deficits?

Anti-Semitism and Madoff's Ponzi scheme?

2009-01-09T13:01:00.012-06:00

A rise in anti-Semitic comments has been reported in the wake of Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Such commentators ignore that many of his victims are Jewish, including Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel's foundation. Madoff is a criminal predator whose evil knew no bounds and who happened to be a Jewish-American.

Anti-Semitic attacks ignores the complete history of European Jews involvement in finances.

Christians are directly responsible for the the involvement of Jews in finance. First, medieval European Christians prohibited Jews from owning land and from many occupations. Then Christians adopted an extreme interpretation of the Bible that Christians could not charge each other interest. When they realized that economies cannot function without credit, they decided it would be alright if they borrowed money from Jews. As a direct result Jews became skilled at finances.

Michael Hirsch writes in his review of Niall Fergonson new book, The Ascent of Money:

“Behind each great historical phenomenon there lies a financial secret,” Ferguson says. He goes into fascinating detail about how “it was Nathan Rothschild as much as the Duke of Wellington who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo” by selling bonds and stockpiling gold for the British Army. The richest bankers on the Continent in the 19th century, the Rothschilds became known as die Finanzbonaparten (the Bonapartes of finance). And, as Ferguson argues, they also played a crucial part in the South’s defeat in the Civil War by declining to invest in Confederate cotton-collateralized bonds.

The defeat of both Napoleon and of the Confederacy were two extremely positive events that benefited the world and were directly related to the financial skills an English financier who also happened to be Jewish.

Does Homeland Security agree with me?

2009-01-05T06:52:00.014-06:00

Homeland Security revoked Gov. Blagovich's access to classified information.

Turns out the U.S. Department of Homeland Security agrees with me that action can be taken against Blagovich. Apparently, Homeland Security feels the charges are serious and credible enough. They don't buy his effort to shield himself from the consequences of his behavior with cries of "innocent until proven guilty."

Just like impeachment, this action is not a criminal sanction that requires a finding of criminal guilt.

This is similar to the example I cited in my previous blog, the suspension of a caregiver during the investigation of allegations of abuse.

Tragedy in the Middle East

2008-12-30T14:45:00.005-06:00

Firing weapons which cannot be precisely aimed at legitimate military targets are war crimes. That is what the Nazis did with similar weapons during World War Two. Carl Sagan lamented that Wernher von Braun, the Nazi rocket scientist, was allowed to have a new career in the U.S. space program instead of being tried for his involvement in that and other war crimes.

The Palestinians have often been described as their own worst enemies. Islamic extremist Palestinians firing terror weapons does not win sympathy of many who would otherwise support a just settlement.

The New York Times reports that the Israelis have recorded over 10,000 firings from Gaza since 2001. Most miss. When they occasionally hit, they usually cause little damage or minor injuries. Fatalities have been rare.

In firings after the end of the cease fire, one weapon hit an apartment building in Gaza killing several members of a Palestinian family.

The rockets fired after Israel's offensive have resulted in only four Israeli fatalities, compared with 400 Palestinians fatalities.

Israel's response is out of proportion to the violence coming from the Palestinians, exceeds legitimate self defense, and appears to have other goals, such as the defeat and overthrow of Hamas.

The tragedy is that in the absence of a comprehensive settlement Israel probably achieved as much security as was possible under the just expired cease fire with Hamas in Gaza. About the only way Israel could achieve a further reduction of violence is with an overall settlement.

Rod Blagovich: Innocent until proven guilty?

2008-12-20T20:24:00.007-06:00

I've heard from various sources that Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois deserves his Constitutional right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

I've am uncomfortable when that right is used by perpetrators and predators to shield themselves from the consequences of their behavior.

It is not unusual for someone to begin to suffer various non-criminal sanctions while the criminal charges are pending.

College athletes are often suspended after an arrest but before the criminal charges are resolved.

Health care staff are suspended with pay during investigations of abuse.

Even if no charges are brought or the the person is acquitted, the perpetrator is still liable for non-criminal consequences. While the evidence may have been insufficient for criminal conviction, the evidence might be sufficient for an athlete to suffer further non-criminal sanctions, including expulsion, or for a health care worker to be fired for the act of abuse of which he or she was acquitted.

The presumption of innocence only refers to the accused's relationship to the criminal justice system and not to the other non-criminal consequences of their behavior. Nor does it need to refer to the "court of public opinion."

Enough precedents exists to justify the suspension of Blagovich's gubernatorial authority while the criminal and non-criminal complaints are resolved.

My bottom line is don't let Blagojevich's invocation of "innocent until proven guilty" intimidate anyone for calling for his resignation now.

Corruption in Chicago

2008-12-15T11:16:00.002-06:00

As I am native to Chicago, I am very aware of the corruption that has again dominated the national news and most tragically embarrassed Barack Obama.

One of the first political acts of my life was to serve as a poll watcher for a liberal opponent of the current mayor's father.

I am outraged by Gov. Blagojevich's crude and blatant behavior.

But I am disturbed by articles like the recent one in the NYT's :

In Illinois, a Virtual Expectation of Corruption

I don't think decent people ever accept corruption or other inappropriate behaviors. Rather, decent people are more likely intimidated into silence, either by retaliation or harassment they themselves suffered or what they observed happened to others who spoke out. The consequences of dissent can be high. While I hope the time has passed when one's physical safety is threatened, other very severe repercussions still occur such as permanent damage to one's career, personal or political.

Some who have opposed this corruption have found safe shelter, such Professor Dick Simpson at the University of Illinois, from whom I took a course when I was an undergraduate in the 1970s. Others have not been so lucky.

In a context where the consequences of standing up to corruption is retaliation and harassment with lifelong consequences and the perpetrators mostly get away, is it really acceptance or just a community battered into passivity and self preservation?